


It Takes a Team

by arianapeterson19



Series: Avengers Shorts [104]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Domestic Avengers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent Tony Stark, Steve Rogers Feels, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Lives, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-01 07:36:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18795880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arianapeterson19/pseuds/arianapeterson19
Summary: This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. In all of the possible ways to work out that Strange had seen, this was not even on Tony's radar.ORThe one where Tony lives but only because someone else died.





	1. After the Funeral

**Author's Note:**

> End Game Spoilers - but if you've made it this far you already know that and if you haven't seen it by this point and are reading Avengers fanfics that's on you.

After the funeral, Tony was sitting in the living room with Morgan on his lap, staring blankly at the wall as though it had the answers. Since the battle had happened, he had done a lot of staring – not that anyone had any answers for him.

This just couldn’t be happening. He had taken the stones, he was going to snap his fingers, he knew he would die - and then Pepper was there, the stones jumping into her own gauntlet, and then she was acting; there was nothing he could do. She had looked sad but not regretful, smiling up at him right before she died. He had wanted to scream, to yell at her, to tell her that it was supposed to be him. But when it came down to it, he couldn’t because he knew that he would have done the same – had tried to do the same. So he kissed her head and told her he loved her; there was nothing else to say at that moment.

He had never expected that he would have to come home to explain to his daughter that her mom wasn’t coming home. Pepper wasn’t even supposed to be there. He had left her at home with Morgan, Happy with them both just in case things went wrong and they needed help. Pepper would keep Morgan safe, at all costs, Tony knew that, he just hadn’t expected it to be her taking the snap.

“Hey kiddo, let’s go get you some dinner,” said Clint, easily lifting Morgan off of Tony’s lap. “Happy brought take out. We’re going to have a picnic, okay?”

“Okay,” said Morgan easily. She had taken to all of the Avengers without hesitation. Peter and Harley were her favorite of everyone she had met, but she liked the rest of them just fine. Clint left the door open so Tony could easily see his daughter outside.

“Hey Tony,” said Steve, taking a seat next to the billionaire. “I was wondering if you would mind us all spending the next few weeks here. We’re going to be returning the stones and you have the technology to do that. And Clint and his family are needing a place to stay while their farm gets all cleaned up and put to rights. Scott is going back home to Cassie though.”

“My wife just died – my best friend,” said Tony in disbelief. “I’m a single parent to a four year old girl. And you’re asking if you all can what, move in?”

“It’s going to be awful,” said Steve bluntly. “It’s going to be hard, learning to live with this pain. I’m not and expert but I have been in a situation that is similar, waking up and almost everyone I loved was dead. What I’m saying is that things are going to be strange because Pepper won’t be here, but it might help to make things strange for a different reason. Having us around will make it different for another reason, which can help not focus on Pepper not being here.”

“Isn’t that avoidance?”

“It can be. But it can also be a buffer. You won’t be able to forget that Pepper isn’t around. It’s going to color every aspect of your life from now on, but when that becomes too much, when that change is too overwhelming, you’ll have people to fall back on and you’ll have a place to shelter from it.”

“In the weirdness of having you all around?” said Tony with a small smirk. He was touched. Things between him and Steve weren’t great but they were getting better. After bringing everyone back and then Tony losing almost everything again, a fight from years ago didn’t seem like something to waste more emotions on. Things weren’t settled but they were both willing to get to that the point where they could move forward.

“Pretty much,” said Steve with an equally small smile. He knew that he had a long way to go with Tony but he also knew that he wanted to make things right between them. And he knew what it felt like to lose everything, he couldn’t just let someone else go through that alone.

“Fine,” said Tony, stretching. “It’ll be good for Morgan to have other people around anyway. She likes people.”

Because Tony would do anything for his daughter, even if it meant letting a team of people invade his home when he was feeling the least social he had ever felt.

Steve rose as Tony did and walked outside with him. Morgan ran up to Tony and jumped into his arms, smiling happily at him and telling him about how Happy had brought pizza AND cheeseburgers, both of which were her favorites.

“That’s great! Happy is pretty cool when he wants to be,” said Tony. “How about we go get some of those burgers?”

That evening, Tony was tucking Morgan in when she looked up at him.

“Mommy’s not coming home, is she?” said Morgan softly.

“No, she’s not,” sighed Tony, laying back on the bed to cuddle her a bit if they were going to have this conversation.

“Is she mad at you?”

“No, she’s not mad at anyone. She died. Remember, that means that she can’t come back. And it’s not because of anything we did, it’s because she can’t come back”

“I miss her,” said Morgan with a soft sniffle.

“Me too.”

“You’re not going away, right?”

“Nope, you’re stuck with me, kid.”

“Good. And I’m not leave you.”

“Good.”

For a while, silence settled between them.

“Daddy?” said Morgan.

“Yes?”

“Can you stay with me tonight?”

“Okay,” said Tony softly.

He shifted slightly, curling up more one the child sized bed. Morgan curled up into him, tucking her head under his chin. In ten minutes, they were both asleep. That was how Steve found them an hour later when he went to check and see how Tony was doing putting his kid to bed. The two were curled up together. With a fond smile, Steve covered them with a soft purple blanket before leaving, shutting the door quietly behind him.


	2. Together

Tony was putting away the dishes the next morning after breakfast, keeping a watchful eye on Morgan through the window. She was busy playing with Steve, showing him her tent and the toys she had stashed there.

The tent had been Pepper’s idea. She had wanted Morgan to enjoy the outdoors and have a place that was just for her. Looking at it now put a pained smile on his face that he hoped would one day turn to a just melancholy smile and then maybe a happy one.

“Hey Mr. Stark,” said Peter from the table where he was reading a textbook. “Aunt May was wondering if I could stay with you while she got her apartment all in order. If not that’s fine, it’s just that she had to move to this smaller place and she’s getting something bigger but it might take a while and –“

“Relax kid, it’s fine,” said Tony, not looking away from his task. “Stay as long as you like. What about high school? Do you need to be enrolled here while you wait?”

“Um, I was thinking I’d just homeschool,” said Peter awkwardly, not wanting to mention that he really couldn’t go back to that school. He had talked to Aunt May about it and he just, he just couldn’t face it with all the other changes. “Most of my friends are in college now and I don’t really want to go back without them. Aunt May enrolled me in online school. Can she- she can call you if you want?”

“I’ll have Happy call her later today, she’d like that,” said Tony. “We have enough space. Let me know if you need anything – for school or otherwise.”

“Thank you, Mr. Stark,” said Peter with his eager smile.

“Please, call me Tony, it’s not the office and I really can’t have you calling me that around Morgan. Then she’ll start calling me that and I’ll have a whole other issue on my hands.”

“Oh – okay,” said Peter. “I’ll do that Mr. Star- I mean, um, Tony.”

Tony smiled softly. He liked Peter – he was a good kid and eager in all that he did. Tony would have to reach out – via Happy because he was pretty positive that was going to be a thing in the future – to May and see if she needed anything. It had been hard on her when she lost Peter the five years ago, he couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to have him back suddenly. She would be elated, but she had also been making her way forward in life. Not moving on, never moving on, but moving forward. And now that was halted again – for a happy reason – but May needed some time to work through it emotionally and Tony was happy to help if he could.

He had to do something. Staying still wasn’t an option.

“I’m really sorry about – about –“ stuttered Peter.

“Me too,” said Tony with a sigh. “But it wasn’t our fault.”

Tony wasn’t sure who he was talking to – himself or Peter – but he knew it was a phrase he was going to repeat until he believed it.

“Peter!” yelled Morgan, running into the house with a bright smile. 

“Hey Ace,” said Peter, catching Morgan as she jumped into his arms and swinging her around.

“Come play with me,” said Morgan. 

”Okay,” said Peter with a grin. “Mr. – Tony, can we take the canoe out?”

“Wear life jackets,” said Tony automatically. “Both of you.”

With a cheer from both kids, they ran out into the yard to get ready. Tony smiled and shook his head. Perhaps it would be good to have the kid around for a while, for all involved.

\- It Takes a Team –

“Everyone is so sad,” said Morgan as Peter paddled them around the lake in the canoe.

“Yeah,” said Peter, unsure of what else to say.

“It’s because Mommy is gone.”

“You’re right.”

“I know, Daddy says I’m very smart,” said Morgan. “I miss Mommy.”

“So does your daddy,” said Peter. “But that’s something, isn’t it? You two can miss her together. You don’t have to miss her on your own.”

“Do you miss your mommy?”

“Every day,” said Peter with a sad smile. “But can I tell you something that helped me not be so sad about missing her?”

“Yes please.”

“My Aunt May told me that I am the living memory of my parents. Do you know what that means?”

Morgan shook her head, little eyebrows furrowing with confusion.

“That means that you are the perfect memory of your mom and everything you do will be in memory of her. So even if you can’t remember her voice or forget what she used to wear, you are keeping her alive with you in everything you do. Because your mom was an incredible lady. She was brave and strong and scary smart. She was amazing, just like you, and you get to show the world that as you grow.”

“Isn’t that a lot of work?” asked Morgan.

“I used to think so too,” said Peter with a smile. “But even if all you do one day is get out of bed and eat a meal, that’s enough. Because some days that’s all you can do. As long as that’s not every day, it’s okay. No matter what you do, your mom will always love you and be proud of you.”

Morgan looked at Peter as though he hung the moon, which made Peter a little uncomfortable but also a lot happy. He didn’t talk about his parents often. He wasn’t ashamed and he loved his Aunt May, but most people he knew couldn’t understand what it was like to lose one parent, let alone both. They would pity him and say the wrong thing without meaning to, or try too hard to say the right thing without realizing there was no right thing to say. But talking to Morgan was different.

“I still miss her,” sighed Morgan after a few minutes. “Do you think she’s with your parents now?”

“I think so. And I think that wherever they are, they are all missing us right back.”

Peter started rowing them back to shore. They were almost there when Morgan spoke up again.

“Peter?”

“Yeah?”

“You can miss your mommy and daddy with me and my daddy if you want.”

“Thanks Morgan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm leaving the country because that's my coping skill. Point is, i will be without internet for a bit and need some good - completed - fics to read for the plane rides. Kindly leave your suggestions for me.
> 
> Always,  
> Ari

**Author's Note:**

> Basically all I want is for the Avengers to co-parent Morgan and Peter to be the best big brother ever, okay? Just let me pretend this is what really happened.
> 
> Always,  
> Ari


End file.
